There are a few other sites that I use or have used to find information – these seem to get easier to find the longer I’m here so I’ll add to this as and when I find more. They’re not all hiking-specific, instead, what ties them together is that they all offer quality information about various aspects of Taiwan. (Also, if you are doing something like this yourself please get in touch so that I can add you too.)
- English hiking resources
- Interesting sites and blogs about Taiwan
- Tour companies and hiking groups
- Chinese hiking resources
English Hiking Resources
A guide to hiking and all things outdoors in Taiwan.
This blog hasn’t been updated for a while but there’s a lot on here and the author is still busy doing similar things with a company called Taiwan Adventures which organises group hikes and the like. There’s a comprehensive list of all the hikes this person has done with some information about the practicalities of each.
Exploring Taiwan’s less trodden paths.
This site has returned and moved over onto a new site. The author is now back in the UK, but he still periodically adds updates, and he is still the unquestionable expert in the field. This is an extensive and well-organised catalogue of pretty much everything outdoorsy from the person who has literally written the guidebook(s) for exploring Taiwan.
New Taipei City Government Hiking Trails
A pretty big list of hikes all over the New Taipei City area which can be searched by length, district and trail type. Be prepared for some interesting English.
My name is Glenn. My wife and I operate a voice recording studio in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. We’re both voice actors, so getting into this business came naturally to us. I had originally started this blog to chronicle my field recordings; a hobby to help me get out of the studio. As fate would have it, one day I found myself in the mountains on a rocky trail while looking for a place to record. My scooter couldn’t handle the rough conditions so I continued on foot. This eventually led to me purchasing a dual sport motorcycle – two in fact. Slowly my field recordings became less and less until I was riding offroad exclusively. This has led to many great adventures that I decided to share here.
Hiking seemed a natural extension to the offroading for me. Many trails out there end at a hiking trail. So I would follow them on foot, wondering where they led. I didn’t want to forget these hiking trips, so it seemed logical to write about them here. Hopefully they’ll be interesting and helpful to others.
Riding and hiking in Taiwan…that’s what you’ll get in this blog!
This is a great resource for anyone looking for more information on (considerably less trodden) trails in the south of Taiwan.
Hi, this is Anusha and I write the code myself to make this website, collect free and paid group hiking trips, and document my hiking trips for people who are interested in hiking in Taiwan.
This is a particularly good place to visit if you want information on upcoming arranged group hikes – something that I find is normally quite hard to do if you don’t have Chinese proficiency. The author (@AnushaHiking) is also active on Twitter, sharing photos of recent hikes as well as local walking-related news stories – she provides a great window into the local hiking scene.
I have lived in Taiwan (on and off) since 2002 and I have done a lot of hiking. I enjoy hiking old familiar trails, but even after years of living in Taiwan, I still always find new places to explore. For such a small place there is so much to discover. I’ve done mostly day hikes and family friendly trips, but also backpacking trips and multi-day high-mountain hikes.
A growing collection of well-written trail guides that will be attractive to anyone who enjoys the type of walks I write about here on Taiwan Trails.
Taoyuan City Government – Attractions
The Taoyuan area’s list of government-sanctioned ‘leisure walks’. You can also use this page to search a wide range of other attractions (including 13 different factory tours and three farms – one of which offers a rose garden which exhibits romance and competitive cup stacking). They give a lot of background detail about the locations which is pretty interesting. And the English is mostly not bad.
Interesting Sites and Blogs about Taiwan
This top-rated history podcast tells stories from the history of Formosa (Taiwan) from circa 1600 C.E. – 2000 C.E., via interesting, lesser-known short stories presented in a non-chronological order.
As someone who listens to a lot of podcasts, I was really happy to stumble upon this one detailing events from Taiwan’s history. The show is hosted by a pair of longtime Taiwan residents, one of whom is the cofounder of Camphor Press (an English-language publishing company based in Taiwan), while the other is a writer/journalist. The episodes are kept tight and accessible and will leave you far more informed than you were previously.
An online repository of Taiwan’s folktales, legends, myths and traditions.
This one isn’t at all related to hiking, however it is a wonderful source of information regarding the stories that have shaped Taiwan.
After finishing my studies back in Canada I decided it was time for a new adventure and packed my bags for what was supposed to be a year-long working holiday in the beautiful country of Taiwan.
Over a decade later, I’m still here and still enjoying every minute of it.
Taiwan might seem ‘small’ when compared to Canada, but there are surprisingly an endless amount of things to see and do here, and even after all this time I still learn something new each and every day.
This isn’t a hiking blog, but the number of times my interests have overlapped with those of the site’s author is considerable. Check out the blog posts for lots of in-depth and interesting articles that you won’t find elsewhere.
I’m an American woman living and working in Taipei, Taiwan. I work in teacher training and corporate training, travel frequently, drink far too much coffee and alcohol (often together). I love reading, cooking, bloviating and exploring any city I find myself in. I have a lovely husband, Brendan two cats.
Another not hiking-specific blog, but one of the few on here by another long-term female transplant to Taiwan.
is the personal blog of Alexander Synaptic, a web developer and multimedia artist. I follow a relatively minimalist lifestyle, eschewing home ownership, physical possessions, and a fixed location for travel and living abroad while working on a wide variety of creative projects (including this blog). Nowadays I spend most of my time in Taiwan >where I am a daily cyclist perpetual student of local history and culture, and occasional urban explorer.
This one isn’t really much related to hiking, but there are some excellent, detailed posts on historical and cultural sites.
Taiwan Everything is a guide to traveling and living in Taiwan. Our aim is to give you a good idea about what amazing Taiwan is like.
A site with a wide range of Taiwan-related information (as you would hope from the name). I’ve linked to the hiking page here, but there’s a whole host of other content to explore. I have a soft spot for these guys because they have even let me write a few articles for their bi-monthly magazine.
Taiwanna Travel is a magazine-style site which covers a huge wealth of travel-related subjects for those looking to get out and explore all that Taiwan has to offer. Of particular interest to me (and presumably readers of this site), are their collections of articles related to hiking, biking and places of natural beauty.
Tour Companies and Hiking Groups
HolaTaipei Travel is a boutique travel agency run by a friend of mine called Cris. It offers tailored tours in both English and Spanish to several locations in the north of Taiwan, such as Jiufen and Yehliu, as well as trips to other places island-wide. They also run free guided hikes up to Mount Jiantan complete with snippets of historical interest and sweeping views of Taipei. For an idea of what to expect, you can check out the HolaTaipei Instagram account.
Facebook is currently one of the best places to meet fellow outdoor enthusiasts, especially if you haven’t yet picked up much Chinese. I recommend the Taipei Hikers group. They’re one of the most active, run regular activities through their Meetup Group and have some very knowledgeable moderators. There’s also the Hikerbabes Community: Taiwan Chapter, Southern Taiwan Hiking, and Taichung Hiking.
Chinese Hiking Resources
Tony Huang’s travel notes and YouTube channel
Tony Huang’s site is one of the most detailed resources out there for people hoping to explore the trails and interesting sites of Taiwan. I really value his thoroughly-researched articles and the genuine enthusiasm that comes across in his videos.
Hiking Biji website and app
The Hiking Biji site is a massive store of information related to all sorts of outdoor activities (although it is mostly skewed towards hiking). You can find users’ write-ups of of trails, lists of the top walks in each county, and mountaineering news. The app, which can be downloaded from either the Apple app store or Google app store can be used to download, track, and record GPX routes. It can also be used to collect digital trophies for challenges such as the Taipei Grand Trail and 100 Peaks (or 100 Minor Peaks).
This is currently an unpaid side passion project and I will continue doing it just for the love of it, but of course, if you like what I do and feel inclined to chip in a few dollars for transport and time then I would appreciate it immensely. You can find me on either Ko-fi or Buy Me a Coffee.
taiwan trails and tales 